Posts: 1 to 25 of 31

Topic: Lauren's Surgery News

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know about what will be happening with Lauren.

She saw Dr. Sonnenday last Friday and he also introduced her to a nutritionist. He wants her to be as healthy as possible for surgery. So, starting this past Monday, Lauren has begun walking on the treadmill and eating very healthy. I am doing it right along with her because I need it too and it is so much easier with a buddy. Lauren is super motivated!!

She has a pre-op consultation with Dr. Sonnenday on March 5th probably to go over all the small stuff dealing with surgery.

Her first surgery will be on March 26th. This will be the one where he goes in laparascopically and makes sure there are no tumors on nearby organs. If everything is ok, he will then go ahead and operate and take out the small tumors and cut off the blood supply to the right side of her liver. If all goes well, she will have the big resection surgery sometime in May. That is all we know at this point.

Thanks for caring, praying for, and supporting Lauren. We appreciate it more than you could ever know.

Love,-Pam and Lauren

My beautiful daughter, Lauren Patrice, will live on in my heart forever.

My comments, suggestions, and opinions are based on my experience as a caretaker for my daughter, Lauren and from reading anything I can get my hands on about Cholangiocarcinoma. Please consult a physician for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Surgery News

Hi Pam,

Thanks for letting us know about Lauren and her surgery. You know that I will so be keeping everything crossed for this surgery to go very well indeed and I am looking forward to reading about it all in the good news section of the site!

I can imagine that Lauren will be super motivated indeed and that is great that you are doing the walking with her as well! The 2 of you may just end up motivating me as well to do some walking here!! Go Lauren!! Loads of positive thoughts heading over your way from here!

Hugs to you and Lauren,

Gavin

Any advice or comments I give are based on personal experiences and knowledge and are my opinions only, they are not to be substituted for professional medical advice. Please seek professional advice from a qualified doctor or medical professional.

Re: Lauren's Surgery News

Yay for the great news! I'm so happy things are moving forward! I'll be there walking with Lauren in spirit! Time to get the Pom poms out for a huge cheer!Love and hugs,

KrisJ"Don't just have minutes in the day; have moments in time."Any opinions I give are based on personal experiences, and are not based on medical knowledge. I strongly suggest receiving medical care and opinions.

Re: Lauren's Surgery News

Hi Tiff,

Basically, we watch portion sizes which is a real eye opener. Not a bowl of cereal, but whatever the serving side is. Whole wheat is best for breads and cereal. I don't like milk and I'm pretty sure I'm lactose intolerant, so I've started using low fat vanilla Silk milk on my cereal and I love it. It looks gross, but tastes great. Also, for meat, we eat mostly boneless, skinless white meat chicken. 3 oz. servings. Instead of eating 1/2 a box of my favorite crackers, I eat 6. Use less salt and really watch fats. We've cut out most junk food, but do eat pretzels and baked chips in moderation. The nutritionist said we could eat as many fruits and veggies as we want. Think of them as free food. The thing is, you can't eat a ton of them without getting sick of them, so you don't overeat like you would with cheese, chips, or sweets. I love V-8 juice, so I got it in the low sodium variety. At first, I didn't like it, but have gotten used to it. The nutritionist said that no food is off limits because if it is, that makes you crave it and think about it all the time. So if you have a craving, eat it and get over it. Otherwise you will eat stuff to try and squash the craving and usually end up eating that food plus what you have been craving. I think a lot of it is psychological because if you know you can eat anything, you don't want it. It is weird. Plus, with Lauren, knowing that Dr. S will have an easier time operating on her if she is healthy with a strong heart is very motivational. Lauren seems so much more active and energetic now. She feels good too. Another thing is that we look at nutrition facts for restaurants and know what will fit into our plan. We eat three meals a day and can have up to three snacks a day. We try and keep our snacks to around 100 cals. each. We usually end up eating around 1200 cals. a day. If you don't want to lose weight, you could increase the calories. It's just the age old simple method of eating healthy food and more exercise. It is by no means easy, but well worth it.

My beautiful daughter, Lauren Patrice, will live on in my heart forever.

My comments, suggestions, and opinions are based on my experience as a caretaker for my daughter, Lauren and from reading anything I can get my hands on about Cholangiocarcinoma. Please consult a physician for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Surgery News

That's funny, Lisa. On the way to the restaurant, I said to Lauren, "No more sauerkraut balls." Made me a little sad. Those were so good. We had a great time with you today. Love you!!

My beautiful daughter, Lauren Patrice, will live on in my heart forever.

My comments, suggestions, and opinions are based on my experience as a caretaker for my daughter, Lauren and from reading anything I can get my hands on about Cholangiocarcinoma. Please consult a physician for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Surgery News

Hi Marion,

A sauerkraut ball is a delicious ball of goodness! It is made with sauerkraut, ham or sausage and a bunch of other ingredients. The mixture is formed into small balls and breaded. It is deep fried and delicious, but doesn't fit into our "healthy lifestyle" way of eating. Darn!! I thought people all over the US had heard of these. Maybe they are just an Ohio thing?? Anyone care to comment?

My beautiful daughter, Lauren Patrice, will live on in my heart forever.

My comments, suggestions, and opinions are based on my experience as a caretaker for my daughter, Lauren and from reading anything I can get my hands on about Cholangiocarcinoma. Please consult a physician for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Surgery News

Pam, sounds like the Polish version of an Italian Rice Ball......in a way. I thought Saurkraut was healthy, must be the bread crumbs and the frying. So perhaps one of our ingenious members can deconstruct this and make a healthy recipe. OK...so I watch the cooking shows, how else would I know the word deconstruct?

Teddy ~In our hearts forever~ATTITUDE is EVERYTHINGAny suggestion I offer is intended as friendly advice based solely on my own experience. Please consult your doctor for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Surgery News

Okay, I gotta jump in here with what will no doubt be the dumbest question of the year so far..........

What is Sauerkraut????? lol!

We don't have that here in Scotland! But I hear words such as deep fried, sausage, ham and I know that even though I don't have a clue what Sauerkraut is I know that I'm gonna like it!

And deconstructing it Lainy! Very modern indeed! I watch the cooking programs as well!

Any advice or comments I give are based on personal experiences and knowledge and are my opinions only, they are not to be substituted for professional medical advice. Please seek professional advice from a qualified doctor or medical professional.

Re: Lauren's Surgery News

This is just cracking me up!! Sauerkraut is a German food. It is fermented cabbage. It is really sour, salty and good. I know it sounds terrible, but it has a great taste. We don't make it ourselves. It comes in a jar, can, or plastic bag. A lot of people eat it with pork and it is the food a lot of Americans eat on New Year's Day for good luck. It is kind of stinky when it is cooking. Most people either really love it or absolutely hate it. Remember, Gavin - No question is a dumb question. We all come from different parts of the world and I think it is so cool that we learn about each other's cultures.

Lainy- The deep frying is what makes it bad. Maybe a baked version? I am very impressed by your use of the word "deconstruct."

Marion- We didn't even order any so Lisa did not get one. It was a sad day.Haha!!!

My beautiful daughter, Lauren Patrice, will live on in my heart forever.

My comments, suggestions, and opinions are based on my experience as a caretaker for my daughter, Lauren and from reading anything I can get my hands on about Cholangiocarcinoma. Please consult a physician for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Surgery News

Randi- I love sauerkraut on hot dogs too, with some mustard. Mmmm, sauerkraut and pickles sounds good. Sounds like something you'd eat when you had pregnancy cravings.

Lainy- I will definitely make the cabbage soup. Seems to me a long time ago I was on the cabbage soup diet. I drink V-8 every day, but since trying to eat healthy, I drink the low sodium version. Tasted bad at first, but I am used to it now.

My beautiful daughter, Lauren Patrice, will live on in my heart forever.

My comments, suggestions, and opinions are based on my experience as a caretaker for my daughter, Lauren and from reading anything I can get my hands on about Cholangiocarcinoma. Please consult a physician for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Surgery News

Randi....yes Orinchini is Italian Rice Balls. YUMMO And yes my soup is a quick and healthy vesion of Jewish Cabbage Borcht. If you wanted you could throw in some brisket! I am in to comfort food lately and all of this fits the bill. Now we still need a healthyh recipe for SauerKraut Balls.

Teddy ~In our hearts forever~ATTITUDE is EVERYTHINGAny suggestion I offer is intended as friendly advice based solely on my own experience. Please consult your doctor for professional guidance.

Re: Lauren's Surgery News

U Make English Muffins? My Sis is coming to visit March 3rd and we are originally from Kansas City Mo and I just ordered English Muffins from Wolfermans. They had the first cafeteria on the Plaza and the first English Muffins. I wanted to give her a taste of KCMO so I got that then my Dad had a Candy Store between the big Theaters downtown KCMO for years and he taught a man on the Plaza to make Caramelcorn. That place is called Topseys and our favoerite flavor is Cinnamon. Well I ordered a big can of that. YUMMO and Memories. I worked in the Candy store from the time I was 10 and yes I learned to give change and weigh nuts and put faces on suckers! One might say I had a sweet childhood!

Teddy ~In our hearts forever~ATTITUDE is EVERYTHINGAny suggestion I offer is intended as friendly advice based solely on my own experience. Please consult your doctor for professional guidance.

The information expressed is not medical advice. The discussion boards are not intended to replace the services of a trained health professional or to be a substitute for the medical advice of physicians or other healthcare providers. Read the full disclaimer.